How do you keep one of the longest-running sitcoms in TV history fresh? “Fill a room with a bunch of really smart, funny people other than ourselves, cause in some ways we are very much out of ideas,” It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s star/executive producer Glenn Howerton said during Deadline’s recent The Contenders Emmys event at the DGA theater.

“Now the show has been on for 12 years, we’re getting younger, really smart, funny writers who have been fans of the show since it started, since they were in college,” Howerton added. “And we hire a lot of those guys.”

Hitting on topics of improving on their shows, art reflecting art and finding the balance between the funny and the drama, the creatives made clear just how deep FX comedy’s bench is.